The Courtesan
The Courtesan's story
927th year of the Scarlet Empress's reign
(5th year of the Interregnum, under Regent Focuf)
Everyone in this life gets a choice to be either good-looking or smart. If you're lucky, you figure out that choice is bullshit. Why can't you be both?
I am beautiful, and I am brilliant. And what I choose to do with my life is my own business. I dictate my own destiny. I will not be told what to do, and I will not be told I have to be either/or. No one should ever have to be forced to choose. Or worse, have that choice taken away.
I was born on the Blessed Isle, where my mother worked as a dressmaker to the Dragon-Bloods. Her skills were exemplary and in demand, so she was able to pay for me to go to the same schools as the Dynasts. My mother was a formidable woman and she made it clear that if the Dynast ladies wanted her dresses, then her child would go to the same schools. She also threatened to reveal the identity of my father, and that was that--I went to the academies.
I don't know who my father is, and my mother died before revealing that. But I know he lives, and he's a member of House Peleps. I'm also aware that if I had Exalted and proven my Dragon-blood lineage, then I would not be here in the City of The Steel Lotus. But I did not and when my mother died, no one needed a yet another bastard child of a Dynast. So I caught the first freighter out of Arjuf to An-Tang.
As for being a courtesan, I enjoy it. I needed money at first, and was lucky enough to happen into the Silent Guild. There was once or twice that a pimp tried to claim me--and I know where to dump bodies. As for how I ended up in the House of the Seven Dancer Shadows, well... I needed a place to stay. I'd begun to establish a reputation, and build influence in the city. A lot of powerful people will pay for an educated, erudite, and discrete companion. You wouldn't believe how many times I've spent time with a client not having sex. Instead I've debated politics, conducted teaching lessons in literacy for a client's children (it's a sad story for another time), done research, and held the hands of the dying. That's the most surprising thing about this profession: discovering how lonely some people really are.
But, back to the story--for all the good clients I had, there are also some bad ones. And a few I wish I could forget. One of which decided not to forget about me and was powerful in the city. Though the Silent Guild can do a lot, I realized I didn't want to put my brothers and sisters in the Guild at risk, and so sought protection from the Lintha. They've got a bad reputation, but their local boss has a reputation for being fair. So I asked to work at the House of Seven Dancer Shadows, which is a Lintha operation. It caters mostly to House Tepet, so the Lintha leave it hands-off.
My strategy worked, in that I got the protection I needed to make the problem back off. Plus I've now got insight and connections into the Lintha Cartel, I'm making the local Lintha boss a lot of money, and my influence is expanding. I'm hoping within a year or two--maybe after Calibration--that I should have enough clout to arrange for a permanent solution to my problem. And after that... maybe I'll see if I can become one of the City Elders. I've always enjoyed politics, and the Silent Guild could always use more political power.
927th year of the Scarlet Empress's reign
(5th year of the Interregnum, under Regent Focuf)
Everyone in this life gets a choice to be either good-looking or smart. If you're lucky, you figure out that choice is bullshit. Why can't you be both?
I am beautiful, and I am brilliant. And what I choose to do with my life is my own business. I dictate my own destiny. I will not be told what to do, and I will not be told I have to be either/or. No one should ever have to be forced to choose. Or worse, have that choice taken away.
I was born on the Blessed Isle, where my mother worked as a dressmaker to the Dragon-Bloods. Her skills were exemplary and in demand, so she was able to pay for me to go to the same schools as the Dynasts. My mother was a formidable woman and she made it clear that if the Dynast ladies wanted her dresses, then her child would go to the same schools. She also threatened to reveal the identity of my father, and that was that--I went to the academies.
I don't know who my father is, and my mother died before revealing that. But I know he lives, and he's a member of House Peleps. I'm also aware that if I had Exalted and proven my Dragon-blood lineage, then I would not be here in the City of The Steel Lotus. But I did not and when my mother died, no one needed a yet another bastard child of a Dynast. So I caught the first freighter out of Arjuf to An-Tang.
As for being a courtesan, I enjoy it. I needed money at first, and was lucky enough to happen into the Silent Guild. There was once or twice that a pimp tried to claim me--and I know where to dump bodies. As for how I ended up in the House of the Seven Dancer Shadows, well... I needed a place to stay. I'd begun to establish a reputation, and build influence in the city. A lot of powerful people will pay for an educated, erudite, and discrete companion. You wouldn't believe how many times I've spent time with a client not having sex. Instead I've debated politics, conducted teaching lessons in literacy for a client's children (it's a sad story for another time), done research, and held the hands of the dying. That's the most surprising thing about this profession: discovering how lonely some people really are.
But, back to the story--for all the good clients I had, there are also some bad ones. And a few I wish I could forget. One of which decided not to forget about me and was powerful in the city. Though the Silent Guild can do a lot, I realized I didn't want to put my brothers and sisters in the Guild at risk, and so sought protection from the Lintha. They've got a bad reputation, but their local boss has a reputation for being fair. So I asked to work at the House of Seven Dancer Shadows, which is a Lintha operation. It caters mostly to House Tepet, so the Lintha leave it hands-off.
My strategy worked, in that I got the protection I needed to make the problem back off. Plus I've now got insight and connections into the Lintha Cartel, I'm making the local Lintha boss a lot of money, and my influence is expanding. I'm hoping within a year or two--maybe after Calibration--that I should have enough clout to arrange for a permanent solution to my problem. And after that... maybe I'll see if I can become one of the City Elders. I've always enjoyed politics, and the Silent Guild could always use more political power.
posted by Xaedalus at 12:57 PM
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